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perforated bread pan without teflon?

February 4, 2010 - 8:35pm

peartree

perforated bread pan without teflon?

I have a dilemma. I regularly bake crusty french loaves in a 2-loaf perforated Chicago Metallic pan. Our family recently acquired a pet bird, who could potentially die if the non-stick coating on the pan overheats. The chemicals used to make nonstick coatings, when heated to high temperatures, give off gases which are fatal to birds. I am looking for a non-non-stick alternative pan. So far my searches have yielded absolutely nothing. Does anyone know of a sticky (just plain aluminum or ceramic or steel) perforated bread pan? I'm looking for the kind with rounded bottoms, for making batards. Any help would be gratefully received! I'll miss that pan!

Sorry Deb, I missed that. To tell the truth, after reading your response to my initial post, I had to copy the images and increase it four times to see the "nonstick" on the label. You have VERY good eye sight.

I have a two loaf perforated aluminum FB pan that I haven't actually used in years since I now bake on tiles. I don't remember the brand (I'll check tonight if it's visible) but I'm sure they are out there to find. A little oil or baking spray or even a strip of parchment would work fine with this.

We eliminated teflon pans in our kitchen. I figure if it's no good for birds, how good is it for us (especially with little kids in the house). They had those "canaries in the coal mine" for a good reason! I really like cooking on cast iron since I've gotten the hang of it and don't miss modern non-stick at all.

Word is that Teflon is toxic to people as well--but because the concentrations are smaller compared to the size of people lungs v. bird lungs, it causes flu-like symptoms (instead of death) when the pans are overheated. I would be especially concerned about using them around infants and people with respiratory illnesses. See this link. Of course, Dupont, a maker of Teflon products, disagrees.

I've tried to eradicate them from our kitchen (hubby won't give up his "omlette pans").

I think on one of Alton Brown's episodes he discussed this and said that he tries to avoid these pans if at all possible. Truly, well seasoned traditional cooking vessels can be non-stick and don't carry the concern.

I have been doing a crash course in teflon and all its aliases (Silverstone is one). As soon as you see the word non-stick, it's almost ALWAYS the main teflon chemical, PTFE. There are a few alternatives, now, but not in FB pans. I ordered an uncoated aluminum sheet pan from big tray. I'm gonna trim the edges off and I'm gonna bend that sucker. Wish me luck!

Do you just want the bottoms to be round? I get fairly good results (I think) baking on a flat sheet pan.

They make a machine just for rolling sheet metal into a circular form. You might be able to find a local shop that would cut up your pan and roll it into sections... I have my doubts that you are going to be able to do a very good job by hand. I will be curious to see how it comes out anyway.

Deb,Don't know if you've come across these guys in your search for pans. Lloyd Industries makes non-stick 1/2 sheet pans that are anodized aluminum that might fit what you're looking for. They also make baguette and loaf pans, but the baguette ones won't fit in a home oven. This other link is for an aluminum baguette pan that isn't perforated but also isn't coated.

For the record, I don't have either of these pans, but thought they look like high quality items.

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